Tuesday, January 29, 2013

GM adding third shift, 2630 jobs at Brazil complex - company

(Reuters) - General Motors Co will add a third production shift at a complex in Brazil, a move it expects will create 2,630 factory and supplier jobs, the company said Sunday in a statement on its website.

GM will add the shift at the Gravata? Industrial Complex, in the south of Brazil, where it makes the Chevrolet Celta and Onix, according to the company.

The move, reported earlier on Sunday by Bloomberg, will create 1,450 new jobs at the plant and another 1,000 at suppliers located at the same facility. The company will create another 180 jobs at a new powertrain plaint.

GM announced the move just after it averted a strike at another Brazilian complex. The company, late Saturday, reached an accord with metalworkers at its Sao Jose dos Campos facility, near the city of Sao Paulo.

The company's plan for the Gravata? plant includes expanding capacity from 230,000 to 380,000 vehicles per year at the Gravata? plant. It is unclear when GM will add the shift.